of wine could readily be offered at any moment
to any guest. All through my boyhood it
would have been matter of remark if, when
a visitor made an evening call, something to
eat or drink was not produced at nine o'clock.
It might be crackers and cheese, it might be
mince pie, it might be oysters or cold chicken.
But something would appear as certainly as
there would be a fire on the hearth in winter.
Every house, by the way, was warmed by open
fires; and in every kitchen cooking was done
by an open fire. I doubt if I ever saw a stove
in my boyhood except in a school or an office.
Anthracite coal was first tried in Boston in
1824. Gas appeared about the same time. I
was taken, as a little boy, to see it burning
in the shops in Washington Street, and to
wonder at an elephant, a tortoise, and a cow,
which spouted burning gas in one window.
Gas was not introduced into dwelling-houses
until Pemberton Square was built by the
Lowells, Jacksons, and their friends, in the
years 1835, 1836, and later. It was a surprise
to everyone when Papanti introduced it in
his new Papanti' s Hall. To prepare for that
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A NEW ENGLAND BOYHOOD.